


Standing Up

by themadmage



Series: themadmage's Harry Potter one-shots and standalones [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Activism, F/F, Fred Weasley lives - this is not important to the story but it's important to me, Homophobia, LGBT rights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 02:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20845817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themadmage/pseuds/themadmage
Summary: Hermione and Ginny lead the fight for LGBT rights in the magical world, and struggle to name their organization.





	Standing Up

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Love for All fest in Hermione's Nook on Facebook.

_ “The beautiful thing about standing up for your rights is that others will see you standing and stand up as well.” _

_ -Cassandra Duffy _

Hermione and Ginny’s relationship, when they had first announced it to their friends, caused many of them to do a double-take. On their second look, however, each one had to admit that the couple made a certain sort of sense. 

Hermione, though the war had necessarily changed her, always had and always would love rules, authority, and order. The fact that those things had failed her several times in recent years did not undo that love, but cause her to cling to those remaining sources of order all the more tightly. And one authority that had (almost) never failed Hermione was her books. Hermione had been able to get lost in research since she’d learned to read non-fiction at the age of six, and that defining trait had become stronger yet after the upheaval and tragedy of her young life.

Ginny, too, had been changed by war. But while Hermione had spent that last year on the run with Harry and Ron, researching desperately about horcruxes and hallows, Ginny had lived in Hogwarts under siege. She had rallied children into troops, placing spells for the Carrows to keep them occupied while Dumbledore’s Army made supply runs from the Room of Requirement to the kitchen and back. When her mother had told her she was too young to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts, she had snuck onto the battlefield anyway. She had been fighting this war for months, whether it pleased her mother or not, and would not be sidelined for the final moments. Ginny had  _ never  _ been the type to sit by and let others handle a situation. She had been one of the six who had gone on the ill-fated rescue mission to the Department of Mysteries at just fourteen, she had defended Hogwarts when Malfoy had breached her wards, and she had become a leader in her war alongside Neville and Luna. Ginny was and always had been a woman of action, and war had not changed that.

So, at first glance, Hermione and Ginny seemed an odd couple. The bookworm who would give her respect to every figure of authority, who would get lost in her books for days, and the rebel who could never be seen sitting still when there was something to be  _ done _ . And yet, they worked. Hermione’s caution tempered Ginny’s drive and helped her to keep her feet firmly on the ground as she worked her magic, and Ginny pushed Hermione to break away from her comfort zone. Occasionally their roles would reverse, but the two women always seemed to be able to complement the other and balance each other’s excesses.

Ginny breezed into the kitchen of the flat she and Hermione had shared for going on two years now, and pressed a quick kiss to her girlfriend’s hair before heading to the shower. Ginny noted as she continued on that Hermione’s hair had become even wilder than usual. She’d been in deep thought about something then, likely something that worried her, and had been playing with the curls. Ginny would have to see what that was. After her shower. 

Hermione hated it if Ginny spent any longer than that in her sweaty clothes after quidditch practice. She’d prefer it, Ginny knew, if she didn’t come home in them at all, but the shower in their flat was so much better than the ones in the locker room that Hermione had been forced to compromise. 

Ginny showered quickly, anxious to get back to Hermione and talk to her about whatever ancient tomes she’d buried herself in that day. In seven minutes flat, Ginny was charming her hair dry and slipping on her favorite track pants and vest. Ginny sat with Hermione at the table, the clinking of two teacups the only sound that heralded her arrival, and put her right hand on Hermione’s left. Hermione would talk when she was ready, usually with little prompting. While she waited, Ginny glanced at the book Hermione had open. Law, not that that said much to her. Both women made a valiant effort to respect each others’ interests, but Ginny understood law about as well as Hermione understood the freedom and exhilaration of soaring through the air on a broom and slamming the quaffle past the opposing keeper. 

Four minutes later, Hermione sighed and picked up the cup of tea Ginny had made her. (Three sugars for the dentists’ daughter, but she took it with just one when she visited home.) She sighed heavily after taking a sip, and looked at Ginny with a tired smile. “A few days ago, the muggle government passed the Adoption and Children Act. Among many other things, it allows same-sex couples equal rights to adopt children.”

Ginny nodded, though she hadn’t figured out yet how this tied into Hermione’s worry or research. 

“My parents called to tell me about it as soon as they heard.”

Ah, that would do it. Hermione’s parents were supportive enough, most of the time. Ginny had stood by Hermione’s side when she came out to them a year after the war ended, just six months after Hermione had finally managed to be on good speaking terms with them again. They weren’t hostile, and there were no outright denials like when Ginny had told her own mother about her bisexuality, but they’d worried for their daughter’s future and the impact that her sexuality would have on it. And they’d never stopped worrying. 

“I pointed out to them that  _ if  _ we decide to raise children, adopting a non-magical child would probably not be in anyone’s best interests,” Hermione continued, “but it got me thinking about how little I actually know about the legal rights that I have in the magical world as a lesbian.”

Ginny cocked her head to the side in confusion, but didn’t interrupt Hermione’s explanation.

“It’s abysmal, Ginny!” Hermione cried softly. “The law can’t stop us from bonding if we choose to, of course, since anyone could cast the spell easily enough. We couldn’t be married in the muggle world, so the magical one wins there, but in every other respect it seems to be  _ decades  _ behind!”

Ginny listened attentively as Hermione expounded on the magical world’s various shortcomings on the topic. Hermione told her about the various laws and community groups and publications that had no equivalent in the magical world. The entire time Hermione spoke, a familiar burning built in Ginny’s core. 

Hermione sighed more heavily than before, apparently having run out of steam on the topic, and gave Ginny a wry half-smile. “How was practice?”

Ginny answered absently, explaining Gwenog’s latest fiendish routines, but her mind was still working over the situation that she’d just been made aware of. Hermione, for all of her bookishness, was not the type to let injustice stand. One only had to look as far as S.P.E.W. to see it. And on this topic, Ginny was in full support of her girlfriend and ready to drive forward with whatever they were apparently about to start. 

“Luna said we can use her family’s printing press,” Ginny told Hermione as she let the door slam behind her. Sound-dampening spells on all of the doors had been one of the first things Hermione had set up when they’d moved into this flat. 

“Sorry?” Hermione looked up from the book she was reading.

“Well, if we’re going to make progress for gay rights in the magical world, we’re going to have to spread the word, yeah?” Slowly, a blinding smile spread over Hermione’s face. “So I asked Luna, and she said we can use her family’s printing press if we want. We could make flyers, or even a newspaper or magazine if we’ve got the time and material.”

“It could be like  _ Sappho _ , or  _ Gay News _ !”

Ginny paused for a moment in her bustling about the kitchen. “Gay News?”

“If you’re the first, you don’t have to do it well,” Hermione said with a handwave. “That applies to naming, too.”

Ginny blinked as she took that in, then nodded to herself. “Speaking of naming, I’ll do that bit.”

“You named Ron’s owl  _ Pigwidgeon _ !”

“And you named your last activist organization  _ spew _ .”

The fight for progress temporarily forgotten, Hermione and Ginny quickly dissolved into a different fight - who had the worse history with names.

In the end, they decided to make it a joint decision.

Not everyone was so enthusiastic, of course. Many of Hermione and Ginny’s pureblooded friends, including half the Weasley family, still gave them uncomfortable looks when they held hands or sat too close together on the sofa. Being openly gay in the magical world wasn’t how things were done, and even those who considered themselves progressive were unsure. 

“I just don’t understand why you have to be so…” Neville faltered. “Aggressive about it.”

Ginny leveled him a  _ look _ . At least he was apologetic about it. Ginny could understand that his grandmother was about as traditional as a person could get without bowing at Voldemort’s feet, and that she’d raised him so  _ of course  _ he would have absorbed some of her views. But she was  _ sure  _ that they’d had this exact conversation before. “We were  _ holding hands _ , Neville. It’s not like we took off all our clothes and-”

“ _ Woah _ ,” Ron said. “Hold up.” Ginny turned her glare on him, and he raised his hands in supplication. “It’s nothing to do with you both being girls! I just don’t  _ ever  _ want to hear about what my sister might do while naked.”

“Oh,” she grimaced. “Well that’s alright, then.”

Hermione looked up as Ginny untied a roll of parchment from the unfamiliar owl that had stopped at their window after carefully checking it for harmful magics. Both women were war heroes in their own right, Ginny was the newest big name in professional quidditch, and Hermione was rising through the ranks at the Ministry with unprecedented speed, so even before their latest crusade there had been a chance they’d receive cursed letters.

Once the letter was deemed safe, Ginny unrolled it and immediately let out an excited squeak. “We have our first new members! Padma Patil is going to bring her girlfriend - she doesn’t say who that is - to the first meeting once we schedule it.”

“Excellent,” Hermione said with a grin that was just-this-side of feral. “I think we should plan on starting a month from Friday. Will you write back to her and tell her that?”

Ginny, who had kept skimming the letter as Hermione spoke, grimaced slightly. “I can do that. She did question the name, though.”

“I  _ told  _ you it was bad!”

“And  _ I  _ told  _ you  _ that if you came up with something better then we’d use it!”

“I still maintain that I did!”

Ginny scoffed lightly, but didn’t comment. 

Harry blushed furiously as Ron stuttered through a disjointed, rambling explanation. After _far_ too long, Hermione finally deciphered what he was trying to say.  “Congratulations, you two!” she exclaimed as she threw her arms around both of them. She’d had her suspicions about each of them separately, but she’d never imagined that  _ her  _ boys would be a couple. 

“You’re the first people we’ve told,” Harry said quietly. “So don’t go spreading it around. We still have to face Molly.”

“Well, at least you won’t be her first kids to come out!” Ginny said cheerfully, before reaching over and smacking Ron on the back of the head. “ _ That _ was for being all weird about me and Hermione when  _ you’re gay too _ , you prat. ”

“I  _ told  _ you!” he said, rubbing his head. “It’s not weird that my sister’s dating a girl, it’s weird that my sister is  _ dating _ .”

“I’m twenty-one, Ronald! I'm going to date!”

“So!” Hermione said brightly, eager to head off another sibling argument. “You’ll come to our meeting, right?”

“I know we agreed it was ambitious,” Hermione said to Ginny over takeaway one night, “but I think we should put together a magazine.”

Ginny surprised her with a groan. “Hermione. If we start a magazine, we’d have to  _ name  _ it!”

“You’re not entirely wrong, but I was thinking that we could look for volunteers at the meeting to write columns, or even just open it up for anyone to submit something. And if we do that-”

“Then we can make the  _ group  _ name it!” Ginny finished excitedly. “Brilliant, let’s do that then.”

"What are we going to do if it happens again?" Ginny asked quietly.

She and Hermione had spent the day standing outside Wheezes, both for their prime location on Diagon Alley and for the fact that the twins wouldn't accuse them of loitering and disturbing customers. Fred and George had been the first of the Weasleys to accept Ginny after she came out - blurted it out in a fit of madness with all nine Weasleys sat down to dinner, really. The twins had accepted her immediately, with Charlie just moments behind them. The way things were always done had never mattered to them. 

The two women had been advertising for their group, handing out flyers listing their goals for advances in LGBT rights and awareness. Most people had been giving them a wide berth, but they'd reached some of them. A fair number had listened to what they had to say and taken a flyer. A smaller number had promised to come to a meeting. The first was scheduled for the tenth of May, two weeks away, and they were expecting between ten and fifteen people at this point. 

The day had been going well, and then it hadn't. 

They'd been approached by a stranger. He knew their names, as everyone did, but they never got his. He had harassed them for their efforts to fight, and for their audacity to exist in a public space. Hermione had quoted law books to him - the magical world's lack of laws restricting speech, whether verbal or in print, or requiring a permit to speak in public spaces. They were breaking no laws. They had every right to be where they were and doing what they were doing. Hermione was correct, but he wasn't listening. He had decided that he was right and they were wrong, and he wasn't open to opposing opinions. Fred and George would have helped, Ginny knew, had this arsehole not chosen the busiest time of the day to start things. As it was, they hadn't been able to get away from the counter. The arsehole had started to get physical. He had started shoving Hermione back while she continued to tell him, with increasing urgency and emotion, about the laws that did or did not exist in relation to the situation. 

It had looked like things were going to escalate further. A crowd had gathered, but everyone just stood there and did nothing while this man pushed Hermione and Ginny tried to pull him away from her. Ginny was strong from quidditch training but she was also petite, and this man wasn't. 

"Leave them alone."

Ginny could have gone boneless with relief at the sound of Neville's voice. The stranger turned to him. "What, are you like them?"

"Like them, as in a holder of the Order of Merlin for our actions in the war? Absolutely." Neville paused, and Ginny had had to fight not to gape at him. There was a time when Neville was shy, she remembered, but those days were gone. Neville continued. "Am I gay?" No." And as much difficulty as Neville had had with their public relationship, he sounded miraculously matter-of-fact and non-defensive as he spoke, gesturing towards where Ginny had tugged Hermione off to the side. "But my friends are, and they deserve respect. So does everyone, really. And if Rita Skeeter can write in the _Daily Prophet_ that the Head Auror is having an affair with the Minister's Undersecretary based on a single stolen memo, then I think Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley can say whatever they please while standing outside of _Weasley's_ Wizard Wheezes."

That hadn't put an immediate end to it, it hadn't sent the arsehole running away with his tail between his legs, but it had gotten the crowd nodding along with Neville and made the arsehole the unpopular one in the situation. It had spelled the beginning of the end of his violence against them. 

"If it happens again?" Hermione asked, her voice stronger than Ginny's had been. "We keep doing what we're doing. We stand up for ourselves. For our rights. And we show others how to do it, so they can stand with us." She paused. "Plus, I asked Neville if he'd come along the next time we do something like that. There are a lot of misogynists in the world, unfortunately, and they aren't going to listen to a couple of women talking about an unpopular topic. Neville did a good job today, of elevating our voices and making people pay attention to us."

"We have just one more thing to discuss," Hermione said to the assembled group. Their first meeting had ended up hosting nineteen people, including Neville and Luna attending as allies and not including Harry and Ron. Harry wasn't ready for his sexuality to be on the front page of the _Prophet, _which they understood. Begrudgingly.

"Yesterday, Hermione and I received an owl from a group of wixen who attend muggle Pride festivals around the country. They aren't an organized group or anything, just loose acquaintances and friends who come together for this. They've invited us, and we're extending the invite to you."

"We hope you'll consider it and that you'll have fun the next time there's a festival," Hermione added with a tentative smile. "We also hope, and this is very much a _long term _goal, to eventually establish a magical version of this festival. So if you do go, have fun, but also take a look at how we might emulate the whole thing in our magical spaces."

Ginny clapped. "That's it! We'll see you all again, we hope, in two weeks. Those of you who volunteered to help with a publication, meet up soon and talk to each other about the first stages of that, maybe? We'll check in with you soon. And the information about the Pride people is on the table by the door. Thank you for coming to the first meeting of the Queer Wixen Uprising!"

The majority of the people filed out of the room, where Professor McGonagall was waiting to escort the gathered people out and back to the wardline at the gates. Meeting in Hogwarts was very much a _temporary _solution. Once it was only close friends, Harry and Ron sheepishly took of the invisibility cloak where they were standing in the corner. 

"What did you all think?" Ginny asked. "How did we do?"

"It was brilliant," Harry told her, and the others nodded or vocalized their agreement. 

"Are you- are you _sure _about the name?" Ron asked.

Ginny's face took on a stubborn set and she crossed her arms. "Queer Wixen Uprising is a fantastic name!" 

"It's just a little aggressive, is all."

"It's like when I named the DA - you're welcome, by the way - taking something that those in power are afraid of and twisting it into a legitimate reality."

"I worried about it, honestly," Hermione said as their friends agreed or disagreed quietly. "_I _wanted to call it the Society for Lesbians and Gays."

"That spells slag," Harry muttered quietly. Hermione glared at him. 

"Bisexuals exist, Hermione," Ginny said, again, as she did every time they had this argument. "_I _am bi, stop erasing your own girlfriend! Plus, there's transgender people who are straight, and other people who don't fit neatly into those labels. Queer is all-encompassing."

Harry looked at her, stunned. "_That_ is your only problem with calling it _slag_?"

Ginny shook her head, not sure if she should laugh or cry. "Trust me, Harry. Slag isn't the worst thing we spelled."


End file.
